MARA Holdings (MARA) is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings after the market closes on May 11, and Wall Street analysts expect the company to post revenue and earnings (EPS) losses of $184.21 million and $2.34 respectively.
The results are expected to reflect the sharp decline in bitcoin prices during the first quarter, with BTC falling approximately 25% during the period, from approximately $87,000 to $67,000, creating significant market value losses on MARA’s digital asset holdings.
However, investors’ focus is likely to be less on near-term bitcoin price volatility and more on the company’s strategic transition toward artificial intelligence and high-performance computing infrastructure. MARA has increasingly positioned itself as part of a broader industry shift in which bitcoin miners are leveraging their existing energy assets and data center expertise to secure more stable, long-term AI-related revenue streams.
The transition to AI includes FTAI Infrastructure agreeing to sell Long Ridge Energy to MARA in a $1.5 billion transaction. The deal is expected to provide MARA with long-term power generation capacity and exposure to more stable cash flow opportunities linked to data center and artificial intelligence contracts, reducing dependence on the highly cyclical bitcoin mining business, where revenue fluctuates with bitcoin prices, network difficulty and transaction fees.
In the fourth quarter, MARA reported a 6% year-over-year revenue decline, from $214 million to $206 million, although it also announced a partnership with Starwood to develop AI data centers that provide roughly one gigawatt of computing capacity in the near term.
During the first quarter, MARA sold 15,133 BTC, valued at approximately $1.1 billion, using the proceeds to repurchase $1 billion in convertible notes, strengthen liquidity, and continue to fund its AI expansion strategy.
The broader bitcoin mining sector is increasingly following a similar path. IREN (IREN) recently expanded its transition to AI through a $3.4 billion AI cloud deal with NVIDIA (NVDA), while also recording a $140.4 million non-cash impairment charge tied to the sale of ASIC mining hardware as it reallocates infrastructure toward AI cloud services.
Additionally, HIVE Digital Technologies (HIVE) announced additional investments in AI and digital infrastructure, including $3.1 million to install high-speed fiber infrastructure to support a planned 50 MW AI factory.
MARA shares rose 1% to $13 in premarket trading.
